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Saturday, January 2, 2010

ASHTON KUTCHER: MEDIA MOGUL

How Ashton Kutcher is pioneering a new kind of media business, bridging Hollywood, technology, and Madison Avenue. Really.

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Ashton Kutcher, Katalyst HQ, Production, Web

Photographs by Jill Greenberg

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Jason Goldberg, Sarah Ross, Hot Pockets, Nestle

ON THE JOB Everyone at Katalyst has a role in the Katalyst HQ mockumentary Web series, including cofounder Jason Goldberg, left, and new-media director Sarah Ross, above right. This year's sponsor is Nestlé's Hot Pockets, below right.

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I've walked into the middle of a swine flu outbreak.

"Here, put this on!" Ashton Kutcher bounds from around the corner in his loft-style Hollywood office, wearing a paper face mask and holding another one. "You can choose whether to wear it or not, but we all are. We can't afford to get sick!" Within seconds, I am surrounded by a fast-moving herd of masked Flip-cam marauders, filming my every move. Perched on the stairs. Popping out from the office kitchen. Uh-oh. "Seriously!" says Kutcher, with a goofy grin around his mask. "Swine flu!" He points to the mask in my hand. Punked and defeated, I put it on. "Awesome," he laughs.

I've walked right into an episode of Katalyst HQ, a Web-based video serial that puts the staff of Kutcher's production company, Katalyst, through a loosely scripted, hopefully funny parody of its workday. The current 16-week "season" is sponsored by Hot Pockets, the savory pastry item whose creators want us to "eat freely," unencumbered by a knife and fork. (Truly. The brand manager told me that.) The program is a collaboration between Katalyst; Slide, a Web company founded by Max Levchin of PayPal fame; advertising titan Publicis Groupe; and Nestlé, which owns Hot Pockets. It has been a huge hit, with millions of reposts of the videos on Facebook, each one reaching an average of 65 friends.

"There is nothing really like this out there," says an obviously thrilled Mike Niethammer, Nestlé's group marketing manager. Niethammer, who reviews the script concepts, chuckles at the report of my punking. "I did throw out a Hot Pockets mention," I say. "Nice," he laughs.

The Katalyst HQ series illuminates what Kutcher's production company wants to become: not just a home for his television and movie projects but also a go-to source for brands looking to deploy what's called "influencer marketing," a squishy hybrid of entertainment content, advertising, and online conversation that finds its audience via video, animation, Twitter, blogs, texts, and mobile. "Entertainment, really, is a dying industry," says Kutcher. "We're a balanced social-media studio, with revenue streams from multiple sources" -- film, TV, and now digital. "For the brand stuff, we're not replacing ad agencies but working with everyone to provide content and the monetization strategies to succeed on the Web."

READ THE REST HERE: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/141/want-a-piece-of-this.html?page=0%2C0

IT'S 2010... NOW WHAT?

Future Is Here. Now What?
The 2000s are gone. They didn't bring the future, those Aughts. Doesn't matter. 2010 is rolling. Watch out for those flying cars when you go to pick the laundry in your jetpack. [Nedroid Comics via The Daily What via m0ddie]

Folio Mags 115 Magazine and Media Predictions for 2010

Put on your seat belts, folks. The roller coaster of a year that was 2009 is grinding to a halt and 2010 is getting ready to blast off.

We saw bankruptcies. Layoffs. Shuttered magazines. Shattered dreams. But it’s nearly 2010, dammit. That’s all behind us now. Right?

Well, maybe not.

Keeping with tradition, FOLIO: has reached out yet again to a wide selection of magazine/media industry professionals—publishers, editors, chief executives, dealmakers, bloggers—to channel their inner Nostradamus and work up some predictions for 2010. Which magazines will survive? Which won’t? Which technologies will propel the industry next year? What are the keys to staying in business while hopefully making a profit in the process?

Some responses were humorous. Most, understandably, were serious. Whether or not 2010 proves to be as grim and depressing as 2009, one thing seems clear: next year should shape up to be just as volatile in terms of technology and evolving business models, if not more so, than 2009.

So, here you have it—115 (give or take) magazine and media predictions for 2010, mostly unedited and in no particular order: http://www.foliomag.com/2009/115-magazine-and-media-predictions-2010

Disney Owns Marvel Now

Walt Disney Co. completed its $4.24-billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. on Thursday, bringing Spider-Man, Iron Man and 5,000 other characters under the same roof asMickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Marvel shareholders approved the acquisition Thursday morning as expected.

Marvel Chief Executive Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, who owned 37% of Marvel stock, supported it. He will oversee the Marvel business and report to Disney CEO Robert Iger. Iger said the deal can help Disney grow revenue and profit, saying in a statement, "The creative and business potential of this combination is substantial."

Mickey Mouse in 1930s Marvel shareholders received $30 per share in cash, plus 0.7452 of a Disney share for every Marvel share they owned. Disney shares closed Thursday at $32.25.

That valued Marvel shares at $54.03 each, and put the purchase price at $4.24 billion. The deal is Disney's largest since it bought Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the maker of "Up" and "Cars," for $7.4 billion in stock in 2006.

Separately, Pow Entertainment Inc., a company led by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, said it expanded a three-year relationship with Disney by giving Disney greater rights to its creative output and exclusive consulting services.

Disney, based in Burbank, will take a 10% stake in Pow for $2.5 million, it said. Walt Disney Studios' president of worldwide distribution, Bob Chapek, said it made sense to extend the relationship with the company partly because of Lee's "knowledge and familiarity of the Marvel Universe."

-- Associated Press

Zelda Rubenstein of Poltergeist taken off life support

Zelda Rubenstein, the squeaky voiced psychic from horror classic Poltergeist, has been taken off life support and only has a short time to live, RadarOnline is reporting.

Rubenstein, 76, became well known for the role in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster and subsequentPoltergeist sequels. She has been hospitalized for over a month at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, and the decision to remove life support was made after two of her major organs failed:

“Her lungs and kidneys have failed and she’s in and out of consciousness,” a friend of the actress tells RadarOnline.com. “It’s only a matter of time now – she doesn’t have long to live.”

In addition to her distinctive voice, Rubenstein is known for her small stature, of which she says:

“Little People are societally handicapped. They have about two minutes to present themselves as equals—and if they don’t take advantage of that chance, then people fall back on the common assumption that ‘less’ is less.”

Rubenstein’s work after Poltergeist includes roles in Cages, Teen Witch, The Wildcard, Southland Talesand National Lampoon’s Last Resort. Rubenstein also did voice-over work for commercials and the TV shows Hey Arnold! and The Flintstones.

Friday, June 26, 2009

KING OF POP DEAD AT 12-FROM THE ONION-HYSTERICAL

LOS ANGELES—Michael Jackson, a talented child performer known for his love of amusement park rides and his hobby of collecting exotic animals for his Neverland Ranch, died from sudden cardiac arrest Thursday at the age of 12. The prepubescent singer, who enjoyed playing dress-up and often referred to himself as "the King of Pop," was celebrated for his naïve exuberance and his generosity toward other children. "This is a terrible loss for music and for all of us," brother Jermaine Jackson said. "He had so much potential to blossom into a gracious and mature human being. As it is, the world will never know the genius Michael Jackson might have become had he grown up." The singer leaves behind a large body of hits, 25,000 unopened toys, and nearly $400 million of debt.